The first event in the “Designing climate policies” seminar series saw experts from academia, the business community and civil society discuss the role of the state and private enterprises in the ecological transformation. Proceedings were kicked off by Bundesbank Executive Board member Sabine Mauderer in the first of a series of events hosted jointly by the Bundesbank, the Center for Liberal Modernity and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

The new Bundesbank branch in Dortmund is taking over the cash supply for the entire Rhine-Ruhr region. It is the Bundesbank’s largest and most modern branch. In future, around 200 members of staff employed there will supply 12 million people with banknotes and coins. The new branch will replace the five existing branches in the region.

In a speech at the Frankfurt Euro Finance Summit, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann underscored the fact that the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) is tied to the pandemic, and that it must come to an end once the emergency situation has been overcome.

Beginning on 30 June, the Deutsche Bundesbank’s numismatic collection will be presenting a special exhibition on the topic of “Money Creators”: at six stations, visitors can learn more about the key people and institutions who, as “money creators”, decide what counts as money. The exhibition will be on display until the end of May 2022.

From 1990 to 1998, Otmar Issing was the Bundesbank’s chief economist. As chief economist at the European Central Bank (ECB), he was responsible for crafting the ECB Governing Council’s monetary policy strategy. Speaking at an academic colloquium to mark Mr Issing’s 85th birthday, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said that Mr Issing had shaped the landscape of monetary policy in Europe like few others.

The global economy has rebounded surprisingly strongly and quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) writes in its Annual Economic Report. A timely, forceful and concerted policy drive on the part of monetary, fiscal and prudential authorities was able to prevent the worst. However, the report explains, recovery has been very uneven across countries and economic sectors. Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated income and wealth inequality.

“Cash in times of turmoil” – it was under this banner that the Bundesbank held its fifth International Cash Conference. Executive Board member Johannes Beermann was joined at the virtual, English-language event by a number of experts, including ECB Governing Council member Fabio Panetta.

According to the current issue of the Monthly Report, prior to the coronavirus crisis local government finances were in good shape overall, albeit with major differences from municipality to municipality. Now, as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the report points to a risk of budget imbalances becoming more widespread again and local governments turning to cash advances to finance their budgets.

“The German economy is overcoming the coronavirus crisis and is poised for the start of a strong upswing,” writes the Bundesbank in its semi-annual projection. The Bundesbank’s economists expect that gross domestic product will reattain its pre-crisis level as early as this summer. It is likely that the rate of inflation will rise strongly to 2.6% in 2021.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann says that climate-related financial disclosures should be mandatory. “The Eurosystem has a legitimate interest in making climate-related risks more transparent,” he said in a speech at the Green Swan 2021 Global Virtual Conference.